Another Day in the Sun

"Another Day In The Sun"
7" vinyl single by The Moffs
Released	21 May 1985
Recorded	7 February 1985
Studio	Paradise Studios, Sydney
Genre	psychedelic rock, art rock
Length	4:51
Label	Citadel Records
Songwriter(s)	Tom Kazas
Producer(s)	Chris Logan

'Another Day in the Sun' is a song by the Australian rock band 'The Moffs'. It was originally released as a 7” vinyl single in May 1985 on the Citadel Records label. The song was recorded at Paradise Studios in Sydney in February 1985. It was produced by Chris Logan, and engineered by Tom Colly. It was the band's first vinyl single, that followed their initial self-titled six-track cassette.

Reception

Another Day in the Sun became a major independent success in Australia and internationally. It reached no.1 on the Australian Independent Charts and stayed in the top 20 for over four months. Australian music magazine Rock Australia Magazine (RAM) at the time wrote, "The Moffs have strung together every solemn rock'n'roll cliché and somehow succeeded in creating the most perfect yearning melancholy spine-tingler since White Rabbit." The song was also embraced by the underground music scenes in the UK and Europe, with Jon Storey of influential UK fanzine Bucketfull of Brains calling it "single of the year...this is the best of the flawless series of Citadel singles, and believe me, the competition is fierce".

Writing

The song was written by Tom Kazas, vocalist and guitarist of the Moffs. Tom recalls that the song was influenced more by early Brian Eno than by 60s psychedelia. It is an example of the experimental nature of Tom’s songwriting for the Moffs.

The form of Another Day in the Sun is unconventional in a few ways. The vocal only enters after a long guitar solo. It has only seventeen lines, and then exits, to return to the guitar solo again. The four chords of the song, G/D/C/Em, were not unusual in themselves, but their re-arrangement was. The change from the more ubiquitous C/D/Em/C to the rarer G/D/C/Em, gave the song a a dramatic and altered feel. The separately staggered entry of the instruments: drums - bass guitar - organ - guitar - voice, was also unusual. The fade out of the band to reveal a piano arpeggiating the chords was also unconventional. At a length of 4.56 it was rather long as a single, but this did not hinder the song being played on high rotation on radio at the time. The guitar solo is a semi-improvised take that only came to life in the studio when producer Chris Logan urged Tom to turn on his tube screamer pedal, that he usually used live, but had strangely left off in an attempt to try a different sound.

The lyrics, a short poem, can be interpreted as positive and uplifting, but also somewhat melancholic. Tom thinks this juxtaposition is also part of the song’s appeal. The poem will be physically embodied into part of a memorial park at Leighton Beach, Fremantle, Western Australia in 2024.

Lyrics

turn your head 'cross the sea / waves of sorrow wait for me / and with my eyes I see your face / drifting slowly in this place / and now it seems there's no time to fill / all these hours standing still / and where I am it might not be clear / at least I know I wont disappear / another day in the sun…

B-side

'Clarodomineaux' is B side of the single, written by Tom Kazas. The song's name is a portmanteaux of ‘Clarendon’ (name of the Clarendon Hotel in Surry Hills, Sydney), and ‘dominoes’ (the tile game). The ‘eaux’ suffix extended the word play of the title. Playing dominoes at the Clarendon Hotel was a favourite past-time of David Byrnes (bass player) and Alan Hislop (drummer) at the time of recording the song. Apart from the more recognisable 60s-style rock riff, the song is notable for its middle section. This has a 3/4-time lilt, that along with the chords and melodies, give this section a medieval folk feel. It also features a vocal by Tatjana Grujic. The lyrics allude to the unstable nature of words, to the doubt created by language itself, and to the logic it entrenches.

Cover art

The front cover art was designed and handndrawn by graphic artist Benjamin Evison, aka Benevision. It is a literal rendering of the song title, with four people, ostensibly the four band members, 'in' the sun.

Personnel

• Tom Kazas - guitar, vocals, piano
• David Byrnes - bass guitar
• Alan Hislop - drums
• Nick Potts - organ
• Tatjana Grujic - vocals on 'Clarodomineaux'

Further Uses

• The song was used in a 2010 episode of the Australian TV series Spitited. The series soundtrack
• The song was used in an Austrlian Vogue fashion show 2010
• Jagwa Ma + Dreems covered the song in 2015
• Words of the song are physically embodied at a memorial at Leighton Beach, Fremantle Beach, Western Australia 2024

External links

• The Moffs Bandcamp
• Tom Kazas Website